London, 11th October 2022 - Nearly half (47%) of UK adults are not aware their internet browsing history can still be seen by third parties without physical access to their device. 

While 7 in 10 (69%) ensure their devices are not shared with anyone, the research by Avast, a global leader in digital security and privacy, found there is a lack of knowledge when it comes to third parties accessing search history and how this information is used. The research also discovered misconceptions about privacy protection such as deleting browser activity from devices or using incognito mode functions when browsing the web. 2 in 5 Brits (43%) don’t know their browsing history could be used to scam them financially, and 44% aren’t aware that it can be sold legally to third parties for the purpose of targeting them with ads. 

The study of 2,000 UK adults revealed that only 39% know how to delete their search history on all their devices, with a further 29% managing it on some but not others. Of those, nearly half (48%) do it at least once a week to maintain their privacy. 

Over half (51%) of Brits have been the target of a phishing scam and 49% feel as though they are being tracked online, with 3 in 10 Brits confessing they feel unsafe (30%) and annoyed (30%) about the latter and only 12% saying they feel ‘positive’ about it.

Unsurprisingly, over half (52%) of UK adults said they wished they knew more about protecting their safety online. However, 32% of Brits don’t even know how to delete their browsing history and over half (53%) don’t know there is a solution in the form of free software that deletes your browser history, with over 2 in 5 (46%) going on to say this is something they’d be likely to install. 

It’s evident that many Brits want online privacy, with 6 in 10 (64%) admitting to hiding their internet browsing history from others. Of these, privacy on banking sites (40%) was cited as the most common reason why, closely followed by preventing their information being monetised by third parties (34%), with keeping their dating site history secret also a priority for 26%.

Nearly a third (32%) of Brits said they wouldn’t want anyone to see their browsing history, with their partners and spouses (19%) being the one person Brits most want to hide it from. In fact, a significant minority (20%) choose not to keep their browsing history private.

“As the window to the internet for 4.6 billion digital citizens around the world, the browser is a prime target for advertisers and cybercriminals, which means browser security and privacy is absolutely central to our daily online interactions,” said Jaya Baloo, Chief Information Security Officer at Avast, a NortonLifeLock company. 

“Many consumers only ever use the browsers pre-installed on their devices, without considering alternative options. Unfortunately, our research demonstrates an obvious knowledge gap among consumers about the fact that their browsing activity is being viewed and monetized by others as well as the potential security issues which cybercriminals are always trying to profit from. We built Avast Secure Browser to ease the burden of technical complexity so people can experience the web as they want and leave everything else to security and privacy experts.”   

To learn more Avast’s research into secure browsing visit https://blog.avast.com/browsing-history-research or to see more details on how Avast Secure Browser protects online security and privacy visit https://www.avast.com/en-gb/secure-browser. 

Avast Secure Browser

Avast Secure Browser protects everything you do online and strengthens your privacy. Designed by Avast’s security experts, it gives users access to a whole host of security features, including: preventing third parties from tracking, stopping websites from identifying users based on unique browser profiles and monitoring email addresses to ensure passwords haven’t leaked online.

About the research

The research was conducted by OnePoll, between 2nd September 2022 and 6th September 2022 polling 2,000 UK adults.